Action will be taken over images of overcrowding inside and outside schools, first minister Nicola Sturgeon said this afternoon.

On the deadline day for schools throughout Scotland to make a full return following the coronavirus lockdown, Ms Sturgeon admitted her concern about some images she had seen on social media.

The first minister also spoke about the clusters of the virus emerging across the country, some involving schools. She made her comments shortly after the EIS teaching union raised concerns about “clear inconsistencies” in Covid-19 safety policies.

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At the daily Scottish government coronavirus briefing in Edinburgh this lunchtime, Ms Sturgeon said she had “seen myself on social media in the last 24 hours some pictures of scenes inside or outside schools that look as if they are too crowded”.

She added that “where we are seeing any of that, steps will be taken to contact the relevant directors of education to make sure that schools are being supported to comply with the guidance”.

After being asked if face coverings should be worn in and around schools - perhaps by parents waiting for their children - the first minister said “the issue of face coverings [is] under ongoing review, and that applies in terms of the guidance in schools as it does more generally”.

She added that “we have tried, in the guidance that has been informed by scientific advice, to make sure we have robust [Covid-19] mitigations in place, but also balancing that with giving young people as normal a schooling experience as possible”.

Ms Sturgeon said: “These are not easy judgments to get right, but we will continue to consider whether, particularly for older pupils in schools, more use of face coverings is appropriate. Where any young person or staff member wants to wear a face covering in school, of course they should be supported to do that.”

The first minister stressed the importance of keeping schools open as the harms of children losing out on an education are “considerable”.

Schools started reopening last Tuesday before today’s full return, and Ms Sturgeon said: “We will inevitably, I think, see more cases which involve school pupils in the weeks and months ahead.”

She added: “In those cases, as has happened in the ones that I’ve mentioned today, contact tracers will identify if other students or staff at schools need to isolate and will let them and their parents know.”

She also spoke of the “competing harms” of potential health risks in schools and the damage done if pupils missed more school.

Ms Sturgeon wished “it didn’t have to be a balance of competing harms”. She added that “we are not complacent about the harm that Covid can do”, but that “equally we cannot be complacent about the harm to children of missing their education or being out of school”. 

She said it was “overwhelmingly in the best interest of young people, particularly after four or five months when they have been out of school, to be in full-time education”.

The first minister also stressed that current cases are community clusters with an impact on schools, where evidence “suggests the transmission has taken place outside of the schools, not in the schools”.

On Monday, Renfrewshire Council said a case has been confirmed at Todholm Primary School in Paisley, while two cases have been detected involving pupils in Perth and Kinross.

Cases have also affected Bannerman High School in Baillieston, Glasgow; Caldervale High School in Airdrie; and St Ambrose High School and St Andrew’s High School, both in Coatbridge.